


Saturday Afternoon

by Sakurafox666



Series: Demon Days [3]
Category: Mythology - Fandom, Supernatural
Genre: Blood, Demons, Explicit Language, F/M, Friendship/Love, Gen, Hunting, Self-Discovery, Trust Issues, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-11
Updated: 2013-04-11
Packaged: 2017-12-08 05:04:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/757370
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sakurafox666/pseuds/Sakurafox666
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Original story that takes place within the universe of Supernatural but no characters from that series are referenced or make an appearance.</p><p>The final part and technically could be read separately as this was written as its own short story. Anyways, please enjoy.</p>
    </blockquote>





	Saturday Afternoon

**Author's Note:**

> Original story that takes place within the universe of Supernatural but no characters from that series are referenced or make an appearance.
> 
> The final part and technically could be read separately as this was written as its own short story. Anyways, please enjoy.

* * *

The polished steel of the '76 dark blue Mustang closed with a snap beneath Mal's fingers. Bag secured over her shoulders, she turned to the right to eye the forest they had parked in front of, acknowledging the increased pulse of her heart for the first time. Roy leaned above the hood, going over the map, jaw set and brows furrowed. Mal joined him at his side, peering down, looking for the quickest path.

"Let's go." Mal turned towards the forest, stretching her fingers, flexing them out and making a fist several times. The late afternoon wind whistled through the shifting branches, a warm and humid breeze that ruffled Mal hair. She swept at her dark locks with a hand and pushed the hair out of her face. Light and shadow danced around her, the canopy above rustling and shifting with the wind as she stalked further inward.

"Mal!" Roy called and caught up. "Did you get what you needed from Dan?"

"Yeah."

Mal kept her footsteps light, fast. Moved through the sea of trees and dirt like a silent ghost, never pausing. The compass felt cold, a worn brass with chipped edges chafing against her father's rosary wrapped around her hand. Ruby beads sliding against the golden metal.

Quiet, with only the wind as its voice through the cascadence of dark green and pale yellow leaves, the forest stayed silent. Moss-eaten rocks and dead logs littered the floor, small, twisted shrubs lined the base of the trees, and nothing stirred below. Animal life seeming gone and an uncomfortable pressure pushed at the back of Mal's mind.

She felt Roy tense and lean closer, head turning towards the sky, then behind them. The pressure intensified.

"The Alpha." Mal narrowed her eyes, glancing back to the trees surrounding them. The peeling bark, the gnarls and twists of the wood, slicked with moisture protected by the dense brush. Shadows snaked their way across the ground like veins towards them and nothing looked safe. "When it comes, focus on exorcising it."

"I can do more." Roy strode up, trying to match Mal's pace and catch her gaze. She let him, but he couldn't hold it very long, as always, and fell back. Mal blew out a sigh between clenched teeth.

"This way is better."

The sun moved through the sky and the shadows grew longer. Their pace quickened, chasing the dusk until both Hunters nearly reached a full run. The temperature fell, cold settled in the air and the wind became a steady moan, echoing and playing through the forest.

The taste of blood came to Mal's mouth, fire and ash coming alive across her skin, the scent of smoke and burning flesh as the memory came back. Blood crawling on the floor, pooling around her hands, legs so weak she couldn't stand, couldn't move. Around his neck, the rosary she bought him, silver cross flickering with the firelight. Clearest in her mind: the howling laughter and a grin made of jagged teeth.

"Mal!" Dirt exploded at her feet, something crashing to the ground, sharp claws lashing out and catching. The leather of her jacket tore, momentum whirling her down, tumbling through a rush of leaves and color. Mal surged in an instant, crouched. A demon, rotting pallid flesh and red eyes came at her with its fangs bared. No hesitation, Mal's elbow smashed into its jaw sent the creature reeling back, howling. It swung, her arm came up to block—the world tilted as another body crashed into hers.

"Dammit, Roy!" Mal watched the claws sink into her partner's arms, blood splashing out. She snatched the hood of his jacket and yanked him back as the demon lunged and tried to snap its jaws around his neck.

They stumbled back, Mal reaching into her bag and pulling out a shotgun, letting a round off in the demon's chest. The salt-filled shots burst across its torso and seared away at the flesh. She grinned. The creature fell to the ground screaming. A cough and Roy stirred next to her.

"Idiot." Mal grabbed his arm, looking it over. She felt the tremor running through his body and she softened her grip.

Roy looked around. "Where did it come from?"

She glanced up, "I don't have time for this."

"Means we're close?"

"Didn't plan on The Alpha having friends." Mal pulled Roy up and they stood back to back. The density of trees pressing against them, bark shifting from gentle brown to murky gray and the leaves a stark black. From the shadows more demons approached.

Few still kept their humanoid forms; most were long, hunched over, sinewy cords of muscle and skeletal limbs with cracked, bleeding skin and pits for eyes. Claws that tore at the trees when they climbed, jagged spines protruding from their backs, dragging themselves up from the bowels of the earth.

Mal clenched her teeth. "Too many."

The wind rushed above through the trees, snapping at the leaves. Mal noticed the weight of her father's rosary.

"Go." Roy said.

"What?"

"Go!"

"You'll—"

"Go, Mal! Just go and kill it." He slipped her the paper with the exorcism on it.

Mal turned and ripped the pin from one of her grenades, tossing it into the air. A crack and it detonated, sending showers of salt raining down. The air filled with the screams of demons as she ran deeper into the forest, glancing back one last time and seeing Roy's back. His shoulders broader than she remembered, the light shifting and swirling around him.

Mal ran. Leaping over fallen trees, dodging rocks, chest throbbing and heartbeat wild in her ears. The world narrowed. No longer hearing the wind, smelling the earth or leaves, not noticing the change in light. Her mind on the Alpha.

A cackle sounded in the distance and the blood rushed through her veins. The pressure in her mind intensified. A spatter of dark blood stood out in a sliver of sunlight. Black. A demon's.

A shadow passed over, fluid through the air. Mal halted, spinning around as she searched for the beast, but nothing. A trick. She shook her head and pushed her hair back with a hand, then pinching the bridge of her nose. She pressed her thumb against the rough cut ruby beads of the rosary, sliding it between fingers, and took off again.

Branches whipped at her face, breathing a ragged mess. The shadows growing longer, spreading their darkness. More blood appeared, now in a fine trail, and she no longer needed the compass. Mal threw it to the side.

A low, long howl ripped through the air, rising in pitch and stuttering until it ended in a laugh. Everything else paled against it.

"Where are you!" Mal crashed through a thicket of trees and leapt over a small ledge, landing, feet sinking into the soft earth. It stood there, teeth gleaming white in a smile that made Mal's stomach churn, the back of her throat becoming bitter.

The Alpha looked human, except its eyes. Filled-in black with electric red irises. And the smile. Too wide. Teeth too sharp. The way she remembered, how it appeared in her nightmares. Now it stood in front of her, covered in its own blood.

Mal's duffle bag hit the ground and she lunged forward, knife in hand. The Alpha blurred, dancing away like shadow in candlelight. Mal stumbled but manage to catch herself, knuckles scraping against the earth as she pushed up and slashed at the monster. Again and again. Each time, The Alpha stepped back a bit further, drawing her in a bit more, laughing.

She tried to feign left and go right, but The Alpha leapt back, slipping through her grasp like smoke. One step back. One step back. Mal charged, not thinking, just screaming with every swing, putting more force behind each with every miss. It ended when The Alpha lashed out and struck her in the chest. The ground greeting the Hunter with pain and cracked ribs.

"Fuck!" Mal's finger's dug into the dirt; scratched, bleeding. The Alpha's laugh drifting over. Her head snapped up, mouth a thin line and eyes narrowed. She spit blood and stood, body trembling.

"Nice to see you again." Voice like whiskey and honey poured over gravel, The Alpha looked her down, blood red eyes resting on Mal's left hand. The rosary felt heavy in it.

"So sweet, isn't it?"

Mal ripped the exorcism from her back pocket. The Alpha's eyes widen, but not with fear.

"Catch me," the monster cooed, turning on its heel before disappearing into the forest. She followed.

The world became undefined, trees lost their shape, the ground simply a colorless plain, even the sky a useless distraction as Mal raced through it, boots pounding, sending a jolt along her cracked ribs. Wind, leaves, trees, light, shadow all spun around, a tunnel only appearing to where The Alpha led.

The end, when she got to the end, finally she could be free. Tears welled in her eyes. Just kill The Alpha and —

The crooked root came out of nowhere, Mal's foot caught and she pitched forward. Instinct taking over and her arms flew up just in time. She coughed and sucked in a breath, ribs grinding, and a broken moan fought its way out. She lay doubled over, half sprawled on the dirt. Everything still and quiet.

Mal tried to push herself up. A new pain came, her hand. Mal looked down and lifted her left, covered in blood where her father's rosary cut deep. Bright red and like water it dripped down the ruby beads and onto the silver cross. She stared at her hand, at the blood, at the rosary.

Her father had loved it. Said it was the second best present he received. Next to her. He hadn't deserved how he'd died. He deserved justice. Vengeance.

Mal gripped the rosary tighter and blood flowed more freely from her hand as she looked for the trail The Alpha must have left. Taunting, as always. Then, her hearing returned and the clash of screams and gunshots could be heard in the distance.

_Roy._

Not now. She looked ahead and continued searching. Another few seconds she found The Alpha's black blood leading deeper into the forest, beyond her line of sight. Mal hesitated, the screaming becoming louder to her ears. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to block everything out again, find that clarity of focus, that single-mindedness needed to catch The Alpha. The sounds persisted, drilling into her mind.

She couldn't lose her way, not now, not so close to the end. One person shouldn't matter. Roy was an adult, knew the risks. He shouldn't matter. He didn't matter. Killing The Alpha was everything. Mal needed to.

Her hand had become numb, the pain receding and she opened her eyes to look down at it. So much blood.

She was a screwed up individual, she knew. Chasing one demon for years, killing anything remotely supernatural along the way. Liking it. A thrill every time one died by her hand. Unhinged, that's what they called it.

Roy wasn't. A good man, not bitter and callous to the world. Didn't deserve everything Mal must have put him through. Shouldn't have put up with it, but did. He was stupid like that, and kind. Had an actual heart.

Tears fell from Mal's eyes, her whole body aching. If she didn't get The Alpha, if she didn't bring her father justice—she took a deep stuttering breath that left as a sob. Nothing would change.

A single demon would be dead, as well as a good man.

Her grip loosened on the rosary and the bleeding slowed. She looked up and the world stopped spinning. Standing, the ground solid beneath her feet, she turned and ran back. Mal focused on her surroundings, listening for gunshots, the wind working against her. The dying sun caught a golden light and she spotted her compass, scooping it up and quickly finding her bearings, making a slight turn in Roy's direction.

The demons' shrieks grew louder and she burst through the trees, plowing into the demon that sat clawing away at Roy, rolling over and smashing a glass vial of holy water against it. The creature screamed and drew back to attack, but Mal sat ready, her engraved knife flew threw through the air, puncturing the monster's chest and darkness poured from its mouth as it choked and died. She remained crouched, ready for the others to come.

But they were all dead.

"Roy!" Mal spun around, Roy lay still on the ground. "Roy!" She ran over and dropped to her knees, fingers going straight to his neck, ignoring the blood on his chest.

One of Roy's eyes cracked open, "What're..."

Mal gave a shaky sigh and coughed, wincing as her ribs protested. She took another breath, tried to let out a steadier one. It didn't work, her ribs were screaming.

"Did you—" She clutched at the front of Roy's jacket and hauled him up, trying to keep him steady as they both wavered.

"Can you walk?"

"Can you?" Mal took one of his arms and acted as a crutch, dragging them back to the car. Roy looked around. "The alpha?" He stumbled and she gripped him tighter.

"Look at you," Mal said, "It's supposed to be the other way around."

"Where's the alpha? God, you're covered in blood..."

She continued to ignore him and let him babble. One foot in front of the other, back towards the car. Slow going, but each step felt lighter, the damned echo of laughter fading from her mind. The sun had almost set by the time they made it back to the gravel road outside the forest.

"Christ, Mal, your hand!" Roy fidgeted, "Tell me what happened? Did you finally get to kill that Alpha?"

The passenger door unlocked and Mal eased Roy into the seat. He grabbed her undamaged jacket cuff when she tried to move away. Their eyes finally met. She'd forgotten that his were blue.

They stayed liked that, locked. Mal, for the first time, dropped her eyes first and took a moment. When she raised them again Roy's own were wide, mouth open. He let go and she pushed the door shut, stumbling over to the other side and collapsing in her own seat.

"But..." If anyone had the right to look heartbroken, it should be Mal. She started the engine and maneuvered the car back onto the empty highway. "What about what you wanted?" Roy's head bowed forward.

Mal looked at him. "You're alive." His eyes came to hers again. She turned back to the road, pulling off her father's rosary and hanging it around the rearview mirror. It swayed slightly to the rhythm of the car's motion. Silence filled the car and she listened to Roy's breathing, hands steady on the wheel.

* * *

 

**Author's Note:**

> And there it is. I hope you enjoyed the story.
> 
> As this is original work, feedback is most certainly appreciated and encouraged. Thank you very much for taking the time out of your day to read this.


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